Category: Book Reviews

This book was excellent. Roma has a very smooth narrative flow and a wonderful talent for plot unraveling and expose.The story is captivating and draws the reader in fully – it’s a book that is almost impossible to put down. There is good suspense buildup and a satisfying conflict toward the end, and the book’s ending leaves you wanting more and ready for the sequel. Roma really captures the humanity of her characters – they think and breathe and feel, and the reader is carried along those shifting emotions and dialogues effortlessly. There is also much of humor in her characters, but also humility, gentility, compassion, and bravery. In addition, the descriptions of vegan cuisines are actually quite mouth-watering. Overall, this is a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it for any reader!

This is an excellent collection of short stories, each with connections to mysterious things in our world, such as Atlantis or Bigfoot. However, these are not your typical stories relating to these things – each is an original concept, with twists and depths that are unexpected and intriguing. I very much enjoyed reading these – absolutely fascinating horror fiction with mystery tied in. Top of the line for short stories.

Roma Gray’s Celebration of Horror really shows what a great grasp she has on the horror genre. These short stories are compelling and suspenseful, and sometimes downright scary. Not many people could make the come-to-life dinosaur toy truly scary, but Roma pulls it off with inspired grace. No one has ever heard a Valentine’s Day story like the one she’ll tell you in this book, and you might think twice about curses – and vampires, as well – after this book. These are stories with strong plots that are written by a writer whose passion for what she writes is truly contagious. Be prepared to be taken on a ride, where the sights are sometimes surprising and often on the gruesome side. Roma does not write graphic violence, but she sometimes skirts right up to the edge of comfort. Wonderful stuff!

Set in an old west style setting, there are some very interesting characters, not to mention Roma’s famous Grishla! There is so much to this story – the story of a tribe of Native Americans who are cursed; a story of outlaws and a competition to the death of the top assassins of the time; and yet a story of compassion mingled with fear. Captivating writing! This is a prequel to Roma’s Hunted Tribe series, and an essential key to understanding the story of the Grishla and the background of what happens in the later books.

This is a wonderful book, full of suspense, high tension, and great storytelling. Roma really instills a deep-seated, insatiable NEED in the reader to know what is coming next. The reading is fun, full of killer bees, zombies, last minute escapes, and honest-to-God spookiness. This is no run-of-the-mill horror story, and even the zombies are very original. Roma’s imagination captures us again, and oh! there is nothing more enjoyable than being caught in the net of her narrative weave. After reading this book, you will wish for more, and await the sequel with a hungry desperation…

Ring of Lies is a suspenseful romance with strong character development and an engaging plot, making this a very satisfying read.

We start the story with Grace as she says her final goodbyes to her husband, Daniel. What she doesn’t know, however, is she is also saying her final goodbyes to the illusion she was living. Her life was based on lies created by Daniel, and on his death, the lies fall away like a house of cards.

Until this point, Grace has led a simple life, although not necessarily a happy one. Her husband was a controlling man, making her doubt her own ability to function. Despite this, she is pushed out of her comfort zone as an intimidating stranger begins to harass her and new facts come to light (such as the fact her husband bought an expensive vacation home without her knowledge). Grace decides she must unearth the truth. Frightened and still suffering from a damage ego (again, thanks to her controlling husband), she reaches out to a man she met who works for the FBI, Jack. The two met when she was on vacation, and they very nearly ended up having an affair. Grace was unhappy at the time, but being a highly ethical person, she did not follow her desires.

As you can imagine, being forced to go out in the world and face many unsettling and frightening things, she begins to grow as a person and learns to trust herself more and more. But one of the most intriguing things I found about this character was what did not change: her strong moral compass. This is why she did not have the affair, this is what drives her to search for the truth when her life falls apart, and this is why her husband despised her. The man had controlled every part of her life except this one thing, which also happened to be the one thing he lacked himself. In my opinion, this made Grace remarkably strong, even though she did not know it; as much as she loved her husband, as much as she handed over so much of her life to him, she never let that part of her be altered or even touched. And this core strength comes in handy, because Grace soon learns her problems are bigger and more complicated than she ever imagined. I’ll let you read the book to see what I mean by this, but my main point here is that it is this contrast between being weak, yet not weak that made her one of my favorite characters.

Her love interest, the FBI agent Jack, was also a very likeable and complex character. His life is a bit screwed up when Grace asks for his help. He has a girlfriend who has recently given birth to a daughter. Jack is trying to do the right thing, providing for his girlfriend and his child, but he has a HUGE problem: The girlfriend hates the baby. What a terrible problem to deal with when you are trying to work a day job as an FBI agent. And then here comes Grace, the woman he’s still in love with. He’s having one heck of a week.

Another aspect of this book that I loved was the setting (once the investigation begins): Florida. It felt almost like going on a tropical vacation. The backdrop just added another satisfying layer to a highly enjoyable read.